Children lost in jungle are found - 21st June 2023

Four children who were lost in the jungle in Colombia have been discovered after 40 days. They were involved in an air crash on 1st May. The pilot and another passenger died when the plane hit land, and four days afterwards, the children's mother also died.

The children, who are 13,9,5 and just 1 year old, set off through the Amazon rainforest to search for help. The children belong to the Amazon's Huitoto community. The eldest child, Lesly, led the way. She helped protect the others by using the skills that she'd learnt from her Huitoto grandmother. The family group kept close to the river bank for water supplies. Lesly knew the difference between safe and poisonous plants and seeds for food.

Henry Guerrero, on the Huitoto team which found the children, said he was surprised at Lesly's clever decisions.

Henry Guerrero: "The one who directed everything in the 40 days was the eldest. She was very intelligent, because when we checked the briefcase, we checked what she was carrying. She took the tent, towel, camping equipment, she took a torch with a couple of batteries, but it was already dead, the two mobile phones, with what they were sometimes distracted at night, a music box and the bottles of soda."

The Huitoto people were joined on the search by Colombian soldiers, who brought along a team of army dogs. According to the children, a dog had accompanied them on their last four days in the jungle.

Guerrero described the children's condition at the time of the rescue.

Henry Guerrero: "When we found them, it was really a great happiness. They were a little bit malnourished. But what we admired about the four minors, apart from the baby who does not speak, was that she had not lost consciousness. They remembered everything."

All four children are now having medical checks in a Bogota hospital. However, once they're strong enough, their father will finally take them home.